


Sassette, Gargamel, and Adolf Icky Man

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Thicker than Water [57]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama, F/M, Family, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-23
Updated: 2011-10-23
Packaged: 2017-10-24 21:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/268215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erin could live with Ashley’s bravado, in small doses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sassette, Gargamel, and Adolf Icky Man

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written in the Thicker than Water universe, where the BAU are kids and teens. It’s a sequel to Silver Lining.

“Do you know who Adolf Icky Man is, Emily?” Ashley asked.

“No, I don’t think I've ever heard of him.”

She, Ashley, and Spencer were waiting on the porch late Thursday morning for Erin to come. Ashley and Spencer were playing the hand slapping game. Her reflexes and speed were spot on. Spencer wasn’t doing as well.

“He lived a long, long time ago during the war. In Germany he was called a Nazi and he killed all of these innocent Jewish people. He was a serial killer. He just did it because they were different from him. I don’t think they're different but Icky Man did.”

Now Emily knew who she was talking about. Looking at Spencer, she could see the nine year old nearly jumping out of his skin to take over the story and tell it right. He yielded the floor though; Ashley hated to be interrupted. That usually never stopped him but this time it did.

“Right, so after the war he escaped and nobody could find him. The Jewish people looked all over the world but it took years and years and years.”

“Then what happened?” Emily asked.

“Ooh, that’s the best part.” Ashley replied.

“Ow!” Spencer exclaimed. He shook off his stinging hand after she slapped it. “OK, I don’t wanna play anymore.”

“OK Spencer.” Ashley sat down on the porch swing beside Emily while Spencer leaned on the banister. He was still nursing his wounded hand. “So after Icky Man escaped he went to this faraway place called Argentina. That’s right, right Spencer.”

“Yeah.” he nodded.

“So he went to Argentina. These Jewish people, they were like ninjas Emily, they went there and kidnapped him cuz he was a serial killer and they wanted to bring him to justice. It was just like those spy movies, wasn’t it Spencer?”

“Not exactly. They…”

“They smuggled him back to where they lived now.” Ashley said as if her big brother hadn't spoken. “What's that place called, Spencer?”

“Israel.” He replied, knowing not to elaborate.

“Yeah, it was called Israel. They took him there and put him on trial. Then they hanged him. I couldn’t believe it. But he was a serial killer so he deserved it. It was actually kind of awesome.”

“What was awesome?” Emily asked, trying to assess where Ashley’s mind was.

“The story was awesome! I liked the part with the ninja spies and when they smuggled him back to…what's it called again?”

“Israel.” Emily and Spencer spoke in unison.

“Right, that’s it. I need to remember that. Jason told me that’s where Jewish people live now. It’s their ancient homeland. So they took Icky Man there cuz he killed all those Jews. I can't believe you don’t know this story. Its history; we saw it on The History Channel.”

“I know it now because you tell it so well.” Emily pinched her nose.

Ashley smiled. It faded some when the green BMW pulled up in front of the house.

“C'mon kiddo,” Emily squeezed her hand. “You can do it.”

Ashley nodded, jumping down from the porch swing. She hugged Spencer.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“That’s for being a good big brother.” She replied. “And just in case I don’t make it back from the doctor.”

“You're gonna be fine, that’s a promise. Tonight we’ll do a new story…anything you want.”

That made Ashley feel a little better. She and Emily held hands as they went down the steps and out to the car. Opening the back door, Ashley climbed in and into the booster seat. She buckled her seatbelt. Emily closed the door before getting in the front.

“Hey Erin.”

“Hello Emily.” She looked in the rearview mirror. “Good morning, Ashley.”

She mumbled a hello and crossed her arms. Erin looked at Emily. The older teenager just shrugged. No one said this was going to be easy.

“How are Nicky and Nora?” Emily asked. It was always easy to talk about the Rossi children. They were Erin’s pride and joy.

“They're doing great. They're both running now…it’s hilarious to watch David keep up. Nicky is talking up a storm too. He mimics everything so you have to be careful what you say around him. He even does impressions of his father. Well I thought they were impressions; David didn’t know what it was. We’ll have you guys over for dinner soon so we can all sit down like a family.”

“That sounds great. It’s probably better to do it before school starts. Then things are gonna get crazy.”

“Are you ready for your senior year?” Erin asked.

“Yeah, I am. I'm drowning in college applications but my choices are pretty much made. The rest is a waste of paper."

“Am I allowed to come to the family dinner?” Ashley asked from the backseat.

“Of course you are.” Erin replied. “You're family, aren’t you?”

“Humph.” She crossed her arms again.

“Hey Ashley, why don’t you tell Erin the Adolf Icky Man story.” Emily suggested.

“She doesn’t want to hear it.” Ashley dismissed the notion.

“Sure I do. Who’s Adolf Icky Man?” Erin asked.

“Well, he was a man who lived a long, long time ago during the war…”

***

“Hi Ashley, I'm Dr. Charlotte Cutler. How are you?”

“I'm OK.” She couldn’t bring herself to focus on the grownup’s eyes. She would look at her socks instead, which were Hamm from _Toy Story_. She loved that movie so Jason bought her a pack of Disney days of the week socks. Thursday was Hamm’s day.

“Most kids call me Dr. Charlie. It’s OK if you do the same.”

“OK.”

“So, Emily tells me that you're about to start school. What grade are you going to?”

“Third.”

“Lots of cool things happen in the third grade.” Dr. Charlie said.

“I guess.” Ashley shrugged. “Can we just get the needles over with? I could like you Dr. Charlie but I won't today.”

“Well,” she smiled. “I appreciate your honesty. Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

“She’s a little tiny for her age.” The doctor told Emily, who was standing beside Ashley. “Height wise she’s relatively close to normal but weight wise she’s almost hitting 15 pounds underweight.”

“I don’t know why, she eats everything in sight.”

“I'm not too concerned that she won't gain weight as her environment stabilizes. As long as her diet is balanced this shouldn’t be a future problem. Just to be on the safe side though, I think you should give Ashley a can of PediaSure everyday. It’ll help to build her bones and muscles. You’ll be sure you're giving her all the nutrients needed to grow properly.”

“OK.” Emily nodded.

“Her heart and lungs were great; so are her reflexes.”

“I always beat Spencer at the slapping game.” Ashley replied, pepping up a little.

“I just bet you do.” Dr. Charlie smiled again. “We’ll start by taking a couple of vials of blood. Then you'll get your shots for school. After that it'll be time to go. You ready?”

Ashley wasn’t ready but the time had come. She slipped her hand in Emily’s and closed her eyes. There was nothing she could do about this. Being little sucked because if she was big there would be something she could do.

***

When they came back into the waiting room, Erin stood. Emily was holding Ashley’s hand. Her eyes were red and her face tearstained. But she had two glow in the dark Superfriends Band-aids and was eating a rainbow colored lollipop.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“It sucked a lot.” Ashley grumped.

“Hey now kiddo,” Emily said. “Language.”

“But it did.” Ashley reasoned.

“You were really brave in there and now its over. It was OK to cry.”

“No more shots ever?” Ashley asked.

“I don’t know about that.” Erin replied. “But that should be it for a while.”

“I guess that’s OK.” Ashley said. “What do we do now?”

“Are you guys hungry?” Erin asked, which is what Emily told her to do when they talked the other night. “I thought lunch might be nice.”

“Lunch sounds great.” Emily smiled. “What about you Ashley?”

“With her?” she looked at Erin.

“Erin is offering to take us to lunch.” The older girl’s voice was firm. “If you don’t want to do that just say no. If you do, say yes.”

“I wanna go.”

“Would you like to choose?” Erin asked.

She took a deep breath. The child tried her patience the few times they were together. It was clear to Erin that Ashley didn’t like her. She loved Dave and felt that Erin took his attention away from her. She seemed to have gotten attached to Emily in the time she’d been living with them. That didn’t change a thing about her attitude toward Erin.

The older woman wasn’t going to let it get to her…Ashley was seven. She hadn't had much in this life and lost the rest. A child should never be bitter but it wasn’t that. It was bravado. Either you stayed strong to you didn’t survive. Erin could live with Ashley’s bravado, in small doses.

“I can choose the place I want?” Ashley asked.

“Yes.”

“Um…I wanna strawberry milkshake! Let’s go to the diner.”

“Good choice.” Emily smiled.

Ashley smiled too, feeling a little better after being poked and stuck. A milkshake would help heal her even more.

***

“Tell me more about Eichmann.” Erin said.

“Who?” Ashley asked, her mouth full of pancake.

They'd gone to the Georgetown Diner. Erin made due with a chicken Caesar salad. She tried to understand why this place appealed to the kids but the menu was not her favorite. Emily got a turkey burger and fries. Ashley wanted pancakes and a strawberry shake. When lunch arrived she was happy.

“Adolf Eichmann…you watched a special about him with Jason and Spencer.”

“Oh, you mean Icky Man. I don't know what happened after they hanged him. You never heard of him either; Emily hadn't?”

“He's a pretty famous fugitive.” Erin replied.

“How come you kicked me out?” Ashley asked.

“I'm sorry?” Erin didn’t seem to understand the question.

“Ashley…” Emily warned.

This could go downhill so fast. It wasn’t easy because she was seven. She couldn’t be subtle but she wasn’t completely guileless either. Emily didn’t want anything to happen that they couldn’t come back from. Regardless of everything, family was family. And Erin Strauss was family.

“I'm just asking Emily, I promise. Penelope and I talked about it and she told me not to hold back asking questions. She said I might not get another chance. Isn’t this my chance?”

“I never kicked you out, Ashley.” Erin said. “While I surely sympathized with the situation you came from, my two children are my primary responsibility. When you came along I knew I didn’t have the time and energy needed to raise a third. It wasn’t personal, I assure you.”

“What's that mean?” Ashley asked.

“What?” Erin countered.

“What does I assure you mean?”

“It’s a grownup way of saying I promise.” Emily said.

“Oh. Well you weren't very nice to me and it hurt. Penelope says you're awesome in your own special way but I told her that you were mean.”

“What did Penelope say about that?” Erin asked. She didn’t know why but she truly wanted to know.

“She said you weren't really mean. She told me that you were like JJ; you lost someone you loved so you had to be tough because it hurt. You coulda just said so…I woulda understood.”

Erin felt the pinpricks at the back of her eyes. They were stabbing her like a thousand daggers. This couldn’t be happening. Damn Penelope, she wasn’t even there and was making Erin emotional. There was no way she would ever cry in front of Ashley or Emily Prentiss. Standing abruptly, she excused herself to the ladies room. Ashley looked at Emily.

“Did I say something wrong?” she asked.

“No, you were very respectful. I think Erin just had to go to the bathroom. When she comes back I think you guys should just make a pact to get to know each other better. It could take some time but I think it'll be good for both of you. You could be pals and Uncle Dave would be happy. I would be too.”

“I don't know.” Ashley replied. “I’ll try though.”

“Good, that’s all anyone can ask. Eat your pancakes; we don’t want them to get cold.”

Ashley nodded, picking up her fork. In a few minutes Erin was back. Her smile was tentative as she sat across from them.

“Wanna try to be pals or something?” Ashley asked.

“Sure.” Erin said. “I never meant to hurt your feelings Ashley. You’ve been hurt enough. I'm glad that you live someplace where you feel love and can be happy.”

“I do.” she smiled. “If Uncle Dave and Penelope love you then I guess I can give you a chance. Oh, and I won't call you Gargamel anymore because Emily says it’s mean. I never did it to your face but it’s still mean.”

Emily almost interjected but the older woman held up her hand. Sabertooth and Gargamel...Jason had a creative bunch on his hands. Erin never cared what people thought of her. Still, it had never been her intent to have a child thinking she was hated. That didn’t make Erin soft. She had a little girl of her own now. She would never want Nora to feel abandoned like Ashley had.

“I appreciate that.” she replied.

“No problem.” Ashley smiled around her milkshake straw.

***

“What are you guys doing in here?” Emily knocked on Spencer and Ashley’s half-open door before walking in. “I could hear giggling all the way down the hall.”

“Sorry we were so loud.” Spencer replied.

“Nonsense.” Emily waved it off. “You guys’ laughter makes the world a better place…I bet you didn’t know that. What was so funny anyway?”

“Spencer was telling me all about _Much to do About Nothing_.” Ashley replied. “It’s a play by Shakespeare. He's really famous. And he’s really funny.”

“That is quite a funny play.” Emily said. “I'm glad you guys were enjoying a good story before bed.”

“Spencer tells them so much better than I could. He reads those crazy books with tiny words but they have awesome adventures in them.”

“You'll be able to read them when you get older, Ashley.” Spencer said. “And you'll share the adventures with other people.”

“OK guys, now its time for sweet dreams.” She tucked in Spencer first, giving him a kiss on each cheek. Ashley was next, with two kisses and a third for Kitty. The kitten was already passed out for the night. Apparently Shakespeare wasn’t her thing.

Emily went to turn off the overhead light, seeing the glow from their two separate night lights. Spencer had Spider Man. Ashley had Barbie, and even though she wasn’t fond of the doll she said the light was bright. “Goodnight guys, I love you.”

“Love you too, Emily.” They sang in unison.

“No more giggling; straight to sleep.”

“We will.” Again they said it in unison.

She kept the door half-open, walked past the dark bathroom, and then knocked on Jason’s door.

“Come in.”

“Hey.”

Jason looked up from his book and smiled. They hadn't seen each other much today. He was taking two classes for the Summer II session at American. Since classes were only 6 weeks, his schedule was rigorous.

No one should learn sociology as fast as Jason was expected to. He was approaching week three and running to catch up. Smarts didn’t seem to matter, speed did. Jason decided he was never taking a summer course again…he loved the art of learning too much.

“Are the kids asleep?” he asked. “I heard them in there laughing like crazy about a half hour ago. What was that about?”

“Apparently Spencer was introducing Ashley to Shakespeare. It was _Much Ado About Nothing_.”

“That’s interesting. Spencer tends to shy away from the comedies. He doesn’t yet know the joys of love and sexual attraction. That’s probably a good thing since he's nine.”

“We’re definitely gonna file that under a good thing.” Emily smiled.

“Why are you standing at the door?” Jason asked. “You don’t want to come in?”

“You're busy with schoolwork. I promised I wouldn’t distract you.”

“I want to be distracted.” He closed his Intro to Sociology workbook. “Weber will be there in the morning. After breakfast I’ll go over to the University library for a couple of hours. That place is deserted on Fridays.”

“Of that I have little doubt.”

“So come in.”

Jason put his books on the nightstand as Emily walked in and pushed up the door. She didn’t close it; it was too early for that. She just wanted to spend some time with him. Climbing on the bed, Jason put his arms around her.

“How were things with Erin and Ashley today?” he asked.

“Everyone survived. A tentative peace accord has been signed and for now all is quiet on the western front.”

“I kinda like it when you make references to books in everyday sentences.”

“That’s because you're a geek.” She laughed, kissing him.

“But you love me?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Mmm hmm,” she pulled him closer. “I think Erin and Ashley are going to be OK. But I won't pretend it’s not going to take time, patience, and communication. Ashley’s seven and honestly Erin doesn’t know how to handle that. They just need to spend more time together but neither thinks they really wanna do that. It’s a wait and see situation.”

“Erin called earlier about having a family dinner next Sunday.” Jason said. “She said Dave is obsessed with his new gas grill and wants to cook a feast on it. I thought it would be fun.”

“Oh yeah.” Emily nodded. “I think it would be too. It’s been a while since we’ve been with them and the kids as a family. This summer has been a bit insane.”

“There's still a month and some change to go until Labor Day.”

“And I'm gonna need it too. What I really need is a vacation.”

“That’s coming too.” Jason said. “It's gonna be awesome to get away. I know everyone hasn’t been to the beach so we’re all looking forward to it. Did I tell you that Hotch asked if Megan could come?”

“There's plenty of room.” Emily replied.

“There's never been plenty of room.”

“Well, there's always room anyway. Let’s watch a movie…I just wanna let today go.”

“Anything you want.”

Emily smiled, climbing off the bed. She went over to the TV, turned it on, and powered up the VCR. Then she grabbed a video and showed it to Jason.

“ _Grosse Point Blank_?” she asked.

“As you wish.”

Smiling, Emily sat back on the bed. They lay on his mound of pillows and she snuggled in Jason’s arms. This was the perfect way to end a long day. Emily had her two favorite guys, the summer breeze, and peace. She didn’t know how long it would last but she planned to enjoy every moment of it.

***


End file.
